The Phillies kept busy right up to the buzzer, and their last move came in the minors.
Philadelphia and the Athletics agreed to a trade that sent right-handed pitcher Seth Johnson to Oakland in exchange for outfielder Colby Thomas, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic on X. Stark also reported that the Phillies were still trying to land one more starter or reliever, but the clock ran out before they could finish that deal.
The swap fits a clear need for Philadelphia. The club has been searching for right-handed hitting help, especially in the outfield, and Thomas checks that box.
The problem is that he has not yet translated his Triple-A production to the majors. Across 253 plate appearances in 2025 and 2026, Thomas has hit .214/.252/.376 with 10 home runs, eight doubles and 30 RBI.
The strikeouts have been the glaring issue: 86 of them, good for a 34.0% strikeout rate.
There is still real pop in his bat when he squares one up. Thomas has averaged 89.6 mph in exit velocity with a 41.6% hard-hit rate. And at Triple-A Las Vegas, he has been a different hitter entirely, posting a .285/.360/.546 line with 40 home runs, 49 doubles and 138 RBI over 775 plate appearances.
Johnson has taken a similar path. A first-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, he has struggled in the majors but has been much sharper in the minors.
In 27 big league appearances covering 31.1 innings, he owns a 7.18 ERA and a 64 ERA+. With Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2026, though, he has put together a 2.17 ERA in 26 games and 29 innings, striking out 40 batters while also logging six saves in high-leverage spots.
The Phillies had already made several moves before that final trade. They acquired second baseman Luis Arraez and right-handed reliever Caleb Kilian from the San Francisco Giants, added Brooks Raley from the New York Mets, and sent Nolan Hoffman, who had been designated for assignment hours earlier, to the Kansas City Royals for Manuel Colon.
In the end, the late exchange with Oakland gave both clubs another player to try to unlock. Both Thomas and Johnson have shown enough in the minors to keep drawing interest, even if neither has yet established himself in the majors.
In Other News...
As Face A Tough Call With Kurtz And Wilson
The Athletics have already spent much of the summer navigating one injury after another, with Brent Rooker done for the season after surgery and Shea Langeliers likely to miss the rest of it after choosing a non-surgical route. It has turned into a difficult stretch for a club trying to keep its lineup together, and the latest developments only add to the uncertainty around two of the teams most important young bats.
Nick Kurtz is scheduled to see a hand specialist about his lingering right thumb injury, a sign the issue is still serious enough to warrant another look. Jacob Wilson is also working through patellar tendonitis, and the possibility of shoulder surgery is now part of the conversation, leaving the A's with even more to sort out as they try to piece together what remains of their infield. [Read more 🡒]
A's Just Made A Deadline Move Fans Will Want To Watch
The deadline shuffle brought a familiar kind of intrigue for the Athletics, with Philadelphia and Oakland working out a deal that sends reliever Seth Johnson to the As in exchange for 25-year-old outfielder Colby Thomas. For Oakland, it adds another arm to the mix at a time when every move is being evaluated through both the present and the next wave of roster construction.
Thomas arrives as a right-handed hitter whose major league track record has been limited, but his minor league performance has given him a longer leash in evaluators eyes. He also comes with enough team control to matter beyond the immediate aftermath of the deadline, which makes him the kind of player As fans will want to track closely as the organization keeps turning over pieces and looking for long-term value. [Read more 🡒]
A's Face One Real Deadline Decision As Jonah Heim Draws Attention
The Athletics have already spent the summer making smaller moves, dealing Aaron Civale to the Chicago Cubs and Brett Harris to the Boston Red Sox, and the next decision could carry more weight than the others. With Shea Langeliers out for the season, Oakland has leaned on Jonah Heim behind the plate, giving the veteran catcher an important role on a club that is drifting further from contention.
That setup has naturally pushed Heim into the center of deadline conversation, especially with the catching market looking thin and contenders such as the Yankees still searching for help. For the As, the question is less about whether there is interest and more about how far they want to go in selling off a player who has become part of their short-term patchwork while the rest of the roster keeps changing around him. [Read more 🡒]